As the man entered the room, Margaret arose and faced him.  The Englishman was well dressed, and newly shaven, and wore a rosebud in his buttonhole.  Evidently, he had spent some time over his toilet in honor of the occasion.

“I’m glad to see you up and looking so well,” he said pleasantly.  “I was afraid your running away would hurt you.”

“I—­I must thank you for what you have done for me, Mr. Styles,” she answered.

“Oh, that’s all right, Miss Margaret.  I’d do as much for you any day.  I think it’s a bloomin’ shame the way you have been treated.”

“Well, I suppose it cannot be helped.  But I must be getting back soon.  You will show me the road?”

“Don’t be in a hurry to go.  You’re not strong enough to go.  Besides—­” the Englishman paused impressively.  “What’s the use of going back?  Don’t you know things look beastly black for you?”

“Perhaps, but I am not afraid—­now.  I am not guilty, Mr. Styles.”

“Of course not!  Of course not!  I knew that from the start.  But things do look black, no use of talking.  I want to help you.”  He came closer, at which she retreated a step.

“Thank you, but I do not see what you can do.  I must go back and give myself up.  I—­I was not myself when I ran away.  It was a very foolish thing to do.”

“If you go back, do you know what they will do?  They will surely hang you?”

“Oh, merciful Heaven?  Do not say that!”

“I wouldn’t if it wasn’t so.  But I’ve been talking to the coroner and the chief of police, and they have all of the evidence as straight as a string.”

“I am innocent.”

“I feel that you are, and that is why I side with you.  Besides, you know my feeling for you.  I’ve loved you for a long time—­I told you so before.”  He took hold of her arm.  “If you’ll do what I wish, I’ll see to it that you escape—­that you are never bothered any more.”

“How can you do that?”

“Never mind how it can be done.  Promise to give up Case, and be my wife, and I will attend to all of the rest.  And I’ll promise you more than that.  Listen, do you know that I am immensely wealthy?  It is so, and I can easily prove it.  Look here.”  He drew a big roll of bank bills from his pocket, each bill of a large denomination.  “I have ten thousand dollars here.  It shall be yours for the taking—­if you will marry me.  I can easily raise five times this amount in forty-eight hours.  We can go to Europe, or Australia, or anywhere we wish.  Isn’t that far better than to stay here, to be hung by a lot of country bumpkins, who don’t understand the matter at all?”

She put up her hands, and waved him away.  Then she burst into tears.

“Don’t speak so, please don’t!  I—­I cannot bear it, I have gone through so much already!”

“Won’t you listen to reason?” Matlock Styles’ face darkened.  “I am giving you everything I have, my wealth, my honor, everything!  Can a man do more than that?  I love you—­love you more than Raymond Case ever did, or will.”